Library cards do have an expiration date. If you receive a message that your card is expiring soon or has expired, contact us at 865-215-8750 or visit us at any of our locations. We will need your library card number to update your account.

(Patrons that receive email notifications will receive a notice by email 30 days before the expiration of the library card. There is no other method of notification prior to expiration.)

If you have an Out-of-county card, you may send a check for the $40.00 annual Out-of-county fee—along with your library card number—to:

The PIN (personal identification number) is your password to keep your library account secure. You can get a PIN by bringing your library card to the Lawson McGhee Library or a branch library (excluding McClung), or you can call 215-8750 to get a PIN over the phone. Have your library card number available.

Use the "I forgot my PIN" link in the library catalog underneath the sign in button in the upper right corner. If you have set an email address in your library account, you will receive PIN reset link in an email message. If you do not receive the email, please call 865-215-8750. You will be asked several questions to verify your identity before we can make an account change.

The PIN reset will take effect for OverDrive and for database access. It will have no effect on accounts with third-party services such as ILLiad, RBdigital, Career Transitions, PowerSpeak Languages, and Learning Express Library.

You can use it at any Knox County Public Library location, and return materials to any Knox County Public Library location. With your library card number and PIN, you can use the online catalog, downloadables and other online resources.

It is up to you to maintain a list of items you've checked out, or that you want to check out.Sign in to your account to use the My Lists feature.To add items to a list, first check that the list is active, then search the catalog for something to add, and use the "Add to My List" check box.

The list feature is handy for many purposes. You can create a "to read" list, a "have read it" list, and any other lists.

It's not "Mark"

When you click the Mark button for items in a search results list, you're creating a list which lasts only for the length of the current session (Marked Items).

Only one bibliography of marked items can be maintained in an e-Library session, but you can have many My Lists.

From a list in the My Lists feature, you can go to the details of an item in order to request that item. This is not available in Marked Items.

Other library products with personal lists:

WorldCat includes not only our library catalog, but the catalog of thousands of other member libraries. From any item, if we own it, you can click the link that is our library's name and be taken to our website where you can reserve the item. If we don't own it, we can try to get it for you oninterlibrary loan.

Create an account on WorldCat, and then you can search for an item and add it to a list. You can make your lists public or private, share them, and add your own comments and reviews. You can also subscribe to another user's public list, post on social networking sites, install a WorldCat browser tool, or use it with a mobile app.

Many readers who enjoy social networking use Goodreads (our catalog displays some Goodreads ratings and reviews). Create your own account and start making your lists, called shelves. Set up a book link to our catalog (through the My Account > Book links tab) so that you can go from an item in Goodreads straight to the item in our catalog. Join the library's group to discuss the books we select for programs.

Please call Melissa Brenneman at 215-8723 if you have any questions about any of this.

VISA, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express cards are accepted, but not gift cards. A 2.32% fee will be charged by the electronic processing company for each transaction; this fee does not go to the library or Knox County.

Payments using credit/debit cards will not be accepted over the phone. Payments must be made in person.

All material may be returned to any Knox County Public Library location. Bookdrops are available for after hour returns, but some non-book items should not be returned via bookdrop because they may be damaged.

Begin by reading the OverDrive Help information specific to the computer or device you'll be using.

Tablets and smartphones

These are non-Kindle mobile multi-use devices, not dedicated ereaders.

You have three options. You can install the OverDrive app, install the Libby app, or simply read or listen in a browser directly from our Overdrive partner website. (Okay, technically you also have a fourth option of using the Kindle app for Kindle-compatible ebooks, but since that's not everything, we suggest using one of the first three options.)

Begin by reading the OverDrive Help information specific to the computer or device you'll be using.

Ebooks for Kindle

Kindle, other than Fire:

Unless you have a Kindle Fire, you will use a Web browser (such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari) on a computer for checking out a library ebook from OverDrive. You may use a library computer for checking out ebooks. Getting the ebook for Kindle sends you to Amazon.com, where you sign in to your Amazon account and click a button to deliver the ebook to your device. Then you sync your Kindle reader on a Wi-Fi network (not a mobile network) to receive the book.

USB transfer:

Kindle Fire:

You don't need a computer. Just go in a Web browser (Silk, or another browser of your choice) to our OverDrive catalog and check out a book. In the download step, select the Kindle format, then follow the on-screen prompts through the Amazon.com website to deliver the ebook to your Kindle. Then check your home screen to find the book.

Kindle Fire users can get the OverDrive app or the Libby app in the Amazon app store for use with the EPUB (and MP3 audiobook) format.

Kindle app on a non-Kindle device

We recommend the OverDrive app or Libby app instead, but if you choose to use a Kindle app, use a Web browser to check out a library ebook from OverDrive. In the download step, select the Kindle format, sign in to your Amazon account, and deliver the ebook to your registered device. Then sync your Kindle app to receive the book.

Will the Libby app replace the OverDrive app? No. If you’re a current user of the OverDrive app and love using it, please keep doing so. Whether you’re a new user or a current OverDrive app user interested in a new reading experience, give Libby a try.

Can I use both the OverDrive app and Libby at the same time? Yes, but we recommend using one or the other for the best experience because the apps are not fully synced.

What features are not available in Libby? OverDrive is expecting to update Libby with important features like accessibility and multilingual support by Fall 2017.

How will Libby users find Help and Support? Libby help is available at https://help.libbyapp.com and is also available via the Tips & Secrets option in the app’s menu. OverDrive will provide direct support for the Libby app (but you are still welcome to call and ask us, 215-8700).

After installing the latest version of the software, if it does not recognize your Adobe ID, test your Adobe username and password by signing in on Adobe.com. If you can sign in, then you haven't forgotten your password, but while you are there you should go ahead and change your password to something that meets their current requirements (or see below about authorizing with an OverDrive account).

Try erasing the authorization in Adobe Digital Editions under the Help menu. If it does not work, then you will need Adobe support to help you get Adobe Digital Editions to erase your authorization. You can start an online chat through the Contact Options : Chat on the Adobe support for Digital Editions page. Explain to them that after installing the latest version of the software, it does not recognize your Adobe ID and you need to erase the authorization.

After Adobe support helps you de-authorize Adobe Digital Editions, you can authorize it with the Adobe ID or, even better, with an OverDrive account.

You will be using two accounts for downloadables: an OverDrive account to authorize the app, and your library account to check out titles. Here's OverDrive's explanation of the OverDrive account.

When you first launch the OverDrive app after installing it, you get three choices for authorizing the app with an OverDrive account: library card number, Facebook, or an email address and password. We recommend the email address and password option, as it comes with the most account features and benefits.

Some app errors might be resolved by deleting and re-installing the app, in which case you will authorize the app again by signing in. You should use the same method—such as email address and password, or Facebook sign-in—that you used previously, if you want to be able to download books that were already checked out to you and downloaded before you deleted the app.

This happens because our catalog computer system is not in real-time communication with the OverDrive and OneClickdigital computer systems for the status of an item. When you find a description of a downloadable ebook or audiobook in the online catalog, the catalog says "1 copy available at Online Collection in Online" meaning that we own a downloadable copy, but the book may be currently checked out from OverDrive. The records in the catalog are meant to help people understand that we own downloadable copies, but if downloadables are all you are interested in, you are best served by using the e-media services directly rather than searching our catalog.

Did you get a replacement library card since placing the hold? If so, your OverDrive account was probably never switched over to your new card number. Call 215-8700 and request that your downloadables account be moved to your new number.

What is the date on the email notifying you that an ebook is available? Maybe the hold expired, if you have turned off automatic hold checkout (in your OverDrive account settings). You get four days to check out an item before the hold expires, including the time required for emailing the notification.

Look closely at compatibility

Most e-reader brands will be EPUB compatible, so they will work with books you might find through libraries and a wide variety of other sources, free or otherwise.

Kindle does not support the EPUB format, which pretty much limits you to the Amazon ecosystem (*see footnote below). There are some publishers that are not distributing through Amazon; meanwhile, Amazon is trying to court publishers and authors to be exclusive to the Kindle ecosystem. With either format, therefore, some ebooks will be unavailable to you. All of the Library's ebooks to date are either EPUB or PDF compatible, while not all of them are Kindle compatible. If the publishers won't work with Amazon, it means that the library's books from those publishers also can't go to Kindles.

Buying one for your travels?

The other thing to think about is ease of loading library books onto the device when you're not at your own computer. With most electronic ink models, you must side-load (via USB connector) library books from a computer that's been authorized to you (Digital Rights Management, DRM, being used to track the loan period and expire the book). This makes it difficult to get new library books loaded while you're traveling. Load up before you leave home.

The Kobo Aura One allows you to borrow ebooks directly from us (more details), so there's no need for an authorized computer for loading library books.

The Kindles with electronic ink and Wi-Fi allow you to sync over Wi-Fi for delivery of the book, but you still have to perform the checkout in a Web browser. It can be any computer, though—the computer doesn't have to be authorized to your account. That makes it easier to get new books while you travel. You could even use a browser on your smartphone.

Smartphone and tablet

If you use a tablet or smartphone for reading your ebooks, you aren't subject to any of these limitations. You can read Kindle and EPUB formatted ebooks (using different apps) and load them wirelessly any time, anywhere you have Internet connectivity. You can also use our Zinio downloadable magazines. There are some disadvantages: you may have eyestrain, the screen may be difficult to read in bright direct sunlight, they're not as comfortable to hold, they're more expensive, and the battery runs out faster. And since they perform so many computer functions, you might be distracted from the reading you want to be doing.

*EPUB files that are not protected by DRM can be converted to a Kindle-supported format through the use of Calibre software. Library ebooks are DRM protected.

Sights and Sounds at Lawson McGhee Library has the following equipment for rental:

Overhead transparency projector

Portable projection screens: 50" x 50" and 70" x 70"

Each item rents for $2.00 per evening and must be picked up and returned to Sights and Sounds during open hours. Library card holders in good standing may rent equipment. Contact us at 865-215-8714 for more information.

We do not lend digital projectors. Local companies that do so can be found in the yellow pages under "Audiovisual Equipment."

Yes, the library offers books, DVDs, music, and databases for Spanish speakers. Our collection includes resources for adults, teens, and children. Let us know if you need help accessing materials in our collection or local resources.

A library database is a searchable collection of information about published works or reproductions of the full content of published works such as magazine and newspaper articles, encyclopedias and other reference books. Unlike websites that are open to view by all, library databases are selected for subscription based on their quality, and only authorized library users may connect to the databases that the library pays for.

When you connect to a database using a link on the library's website, several technical things happen behind the scenes to get you access to the resources. You might be required to enter your library card number, which permits you a session with that database for a limited time. Maybe your earlier session with the database has timed out. Just go back to the library's website and follow the link again to establish a new session. If that doesn't work, close the window and start up your web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, etc.) again. Call the reference desk if you still have trouble.

Some of the databases are provided to all Tennesseans by the Tennessee Electronic Library (TEL). In most cases, the method that authorizes you to use these databases is not your library card number, but your location within Tennessee. Each database provided by TEL is noted in the database description with a link that takes you to the TEL website. If you have trouble using our link to one of these databases, you can try connecting to it from the TEL website.

If a TEL database prompts you for your library card number and PIN, that may be because Knox County Public Library has paid for additional resources to be included in the database beyond what is available on TEL. You can still use the TEL database and not be missing too much, if your library card sign-in doesn't work.

RBdigital (Android, iOS, Kindle) – download audiobooks and magazines from the RBdigital sites for magazines and audiobooks. Set up your account on one of those websites prior to connecting with the app.

Tumblebooks (iOS, Android) – install the app then sign in the first time with your library card number.

This is not an app, but Library Extension is a browser extension available for Chrome (Firefox coming soon). As you browse websites for books and e-books, the Library Extension can check both the library's online catalog and OverDrive, and displays the availability of that item on the same page.

Knox County Public Library is committed to making this website accessible to the widest possible audience. If you are experiencing difficulty accessing any element of this web site, please let us know. Please describe the nature of the problem and the section where the difficulty was found. We will do our best to provide you with the information you require. Please contact us at webmaster@knoxlib.org.

Many of the wonderful resources we offer are only for users of Knox County Public Library, not everyone in the world. Your sign-in authorizes you to use the resources, but your authorization can expire and then you'll be prompted to sign in again. Because these resources are on different systems, one single sign-in does not get you access to everything.

Saving your sign-in (and suggesting that information to you as you type) is a feature of the software that you use to access the site. If you may have told your browser in the past not to save your sign-in, you need to go into the settings of your browser to change that. Then you should be able to simply type 4 and your browser will suggest the rest of your number, and probably your PIN as well.

You will still need to type in your sign-in to access any other resource that your browser has not yet remembered. For example, your browser may fill in your library card number for your account on OverDrive, but not for access to Value Line. They are completely different systems.

This site links to many different systems—your account and the catalog; downloadable books and magazines; databases and more. When a link goes away from this website, you'll see a tiny icon to the right of the link, indicating that it's an external link. That's your warning that you might want to open the link in a new tab so that it's easier to come back to our site after you finish using that resource.

To open a link in a new browser tab, computer users generally right-click a link for the context menu and users of handheld devices generally tap and hold the link. The wording of options in the menu will vary, but you may see open in a new tab, open in a new page, or open in a new window. Experiment to see what works best for you.

You might want to configure a setting for how your browser behaves when opening a new tab. For example, Safari users (iPad, iPhone) can set tabs to open in the background. Users of other browsers can also check their browser's app menu for settings to see what options there are.

Also, set a bookmark for the library's website in your browser, or a shortcut on your home screen (or desktop screen). Then you can quickly get back to using the library, no matter how far away you've roamed.

Need help with these suggestions? Call the reference desk and be able to tell us what device you're using and the name of the app (or browser). We'll do an Internet search for instructions and try to walk you through them.